'Don't let Iran cause World War Three', warns George Bush

Iran must be stopped from developing a nuclear weapon to avoid World War Three, George Bush warned yesterday.

He claimed that Iran would pose a "dangerous threat to world peace" if it was allowed to continue with its nuclear ambitions and urged other leaders to take responsibility for failing to admonish the Islamic republic.

The US was "disappointed" with the Iranian government and its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but bore no resentment towards the Iranian people, he added.

In a press conference at the White House, Mr Bush said: "I believe that if Iran had a nuclear weapon it would be a dangerous threat to world peace.

"We have a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel.

"I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War Three, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.

"I take the threat of Iran with a nuclear weapon very seriously and will continue to work with all nations about the seriousness of this threat."

He said the US's strategy was to isolate Iran until its president tired of sanctions and decided it was not worth pursuing a nuclear programme any longer.

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"To me, it's worth the effort to keep the pressure on this government," he added.

"And secondly, it's important for the Iranian people to know we harbour no resentment to them. We're disappointed in the Iranian government's actions, as should they be.

"The pressure's way too high, isolation is causing economic pain, this is a country that's got a much better future. People have got better hope inside Iran than this current government is providing them.

"It's a complex issue but my intent is to continue to rally the world to send a focused signal to the Iranian government that we will continue to work to isolate you in the hope that at some point in time somebody else shows up and says it's not worth the isolation."

Mr Bush was speaking as Russian president Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran – the first Kremlin leader to visit the capital in more than six decades.

Mr Putin's visit is widely regarded as an attempt to strengthen efforts to blunt US economic and military ties in the area.

Last week, the president issued a thinly-veiled warning against any attack on Iran, claiming he had seen no "objective data" that would indicate Tehran was trying to build nuclear weapons.

But he has refused publicly to support Iran's defiance over its nuclear programme.